Chapter 436: Kaisa and the Void Prophet
South of the desert, Mount Bailat.
This is the edge of the vast desert and the end of the forbidden zone of life. Although the sandstorms from the northern desert are still fierce and ruthless, the gurgling streams flowing down from the southern mountains have brought some vitality to this barren land.
The hills here can grow grass, raise sheep, and plant some drought-resistant crops.
For the Shurimans, such a piece of land is a kind and generous gift from nature.
Keisha, 10 years old this year, was born here.
Yes, she is different from the Void Daughter Kassa that Levi knows:
Kai'Sa is the name she changed for herself after she became a symbiotic being with a void creature in the "future";
And now she is just a little human girl named Kesha.
"Mee~Mee~" As the sun just rose in the early morning, Keisha drove dozens of her sheep to graze in the valley outside the village.
There are no tall buildings, no shops, no city noise, only blue sky, white clouds, green grass, and sheep...
Kesa read the story picture book her father brought back from Piltover.
Those people of Piltover always imagined in stories that they could get away from the city and come to a place like this to be shepherds.
Here, people no longer have to shoulder the heavy burden of life. They only need to take care of those gentle and lovely sheep, lie on the grassland and quietly look at the sky...
"No way!" When she thought of the absurd stories written by those Piltover people, Kai'Sa curled her lips helplessly.
Then, she couldn't help but yawning, letting the tired tears slide uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes, leaving two crystal tear marks on her gray cheeks.
And where the tears flowed , the original color of the snow-white skin of this naturally beautiful little girl could barely be revealed.
But Keisha just wiped it with her hand, and the tears mixed with dust covered her little face with a gray and black color.
"Baa~baa~" The flock of sheep were still bleating noisily around her, making her feel a little uneasy.
She got up before dawn today, prepared concentrated feed for the sheep, cleaned the sheep pen, cleared sheep manure, and helped her mother milk the sheep to prepare breakfast.
The large bucket full of sheep dung that was swept up made her whole body filled with a strong smell of sheep.
And Kesha didn't even have time to take care of herself.
The sick lamb at home needed more care than her.
She could only sit in the dirty and smelly sheep pen, and feed the sick lambs mouthful by mouthful of fine feed mixed with herbs like a patient mother.
Then she prayed devoutly to the gods of Shurima, praying that they could bless the sheep to recover soon so that she and her mother could have a better life.
After finally finishing all these chores, Keisha was finally able to drive the sheep out to graze, allowing herself to live a little more easily.
But it's just a little bit easier.
“Buzz buzz buzz— ”
The chirping of grass insects that was "as elegant as a piano" in the Piltover Tales sounded like the sound of hell to Kai'Sa.
Mosquitoes on the grass are simply a biological weapon.
There were so many of them that every time the sheep took a step forward in the grass, they would stir up a cloud of black mist in the air - at this time, you could just reach out your hand and catch a handful of mosquitoes from the air.
So, Kai'Sa had to wrap herself tightly from head to toe in robes and scarves under the scorching sun of Shurima.
But even so, many mosquitoes still crawled in through the gaps in Kesha's clothes and pierced the girl's delicate skin with their blood-sucking poisonous needles.
"Hiss——" The mosquito bites in the grass are very painful.
Keisha felt like she was pricked by needles several times, and then the place on her arm where she was bitten quickly became red and swollen.
Fortunately, she has gotten used to this kind of pain. The swelling on her arm from the bites yesterday, the day before yesterday, and the day before yesterday has not gone away yet, so a few more of these minor injuries are nothing.
Keisha gritted her teeth and held on.
But the morning sun was getting bigger and bigger.
The "warm sunshine on the grassland" in the Piltover storybook was now ruthlessly scorching the thin Shurima girl. The skin on her cheeks quickly became hot and red, and was stained with a layer of dense crystal sweat beads.
The sweat kept dripping, mixing with the sheep smell on her old robe, making her smell even worse.
But Keisha had no choice but to continue to persevere.
She finally drove the flock to the stream and let the sheep drink enough water. Then she came to the shady side of the valley to avoid the increasingly scorching sun overhead.
The breeze here is cool and there are not many mosquitoes. It is a perfect place to stop and rest while letting the sheep graze well.
"Ah...Tsk." Kesha sat down on the grass, with sleepiness in her eyes.
She was so tired from working that she wanted to take a nap.
But she didn't dare.
Sheepdogs are not omnipotent. She was afraid that if she slept too deeply, there would be a few fewer sheep in the flock when she woke up.
Maybe the sheep got lost on their own, or maybe they were taken away by wolves in the mountains, but no matter which possibility it was, it was a loss that she, a little shepherdess, could not bear.
So, Keisha could only try hard not to fall asleep.
She sat on the grass, holding the sheep shovel tightly and carefully watching the sheep grazing. At the same time, she carefully took out the Piltover Tales book that she had read and read it attentively.
She was too familiar with the stories in the book, but she still had to read it.
Because she was more familiar with the surrounding scenery, familiar to the point of boredom. If she didn't read, she had no other way to kill time.
"Dad, when will you come back?"
At this time, Keisha couldn't help but miss her father.
Every time her father came back, he would bring her a lot of delicious food, fun things, and many legendary stories from afar.
"Piltover..." Kesa tried to look north again, looking at the direction where her father was going on this long journey.
Piltover, this prosperous, wealthy, civilized and progressive city, is also a frequent visitor in her father's adventure stories.
Kesha still remembers that her father once told her excitedly after getting drunk that when he became rich, he would take her and her mother to Piltover.
In this way, she and her mother can live in a magical miracle cottage where there is water when they turn on the tap and meat when they open the refrigerator.
By then, she would no longer have to suffer from the sunburn in the summer, or the frostbite in the winter wind. She would no longer have to shear the sheep and fetch water in the summer, or cut grass and feed the sheep in the winter. She would no longer have to get up in the middle of the night to see a doctor or deliver a baby, or clean the sheepfold or the sheep manure.
But these were never realized.
Kassadin said these drunken words in a daze and set off for a distant place the next day.
No matter how legendary his adventures were outside, Kesha and her mother's lives were not much different from before.
"Oh." Kesha let out a long sigh.
In her little head she couldn't understand why her father, who was such a great caravan guide, still couldn't lead her and her mother out of the mountains.
Is Piltover really that difficult to get to?
"..."Keisha suddenly lost the desire to continue reading.
She closed the book of Piltover Tales tightly and never looked at it again.
Yes, she shouldn't have watched it.
Their family's life is already quite good in Shurima and in the village.
If she didn't know there was such a good place as Piltover in the world, perhaps she wouldn't be so confused and painful?
Young Miss Kesha couldn't help but think deeply about this.
And just at this moment...
"Woof woof woof!" The sheepdog suddenly let out a cry of fear.
"There's a wolf?" Kesha woke up immediately.
She subconsciously tensed her body, took out the dagger her father gave her from her arms, and looked vigilantly in the direction where the sheepdog was barking.
Her slender figure didn't look as strong as the sheep she was supposed to protect.
But Kesha still stood in front of the flock with trembling legs. She was reluctant to lose the sheep, as it would make her mother very sad.
Fortunately...
As the barking of the sheepdogs became louder and louder, it turned out that what appeared in the valley were not wolves, but a group of strangers.
Those people were wearing long robes to protect themselves from the wind and sand, and were leading horses and Skarash camels. They looked like merchants passing through here from far away.
The leader of this "caravan" is a mysterious man wrapped in a purple robe.
Only his pair of purple pupils were exposed, and they looked bright and shiny, as if they could glow by themselves.
"Woof woof woof woof woof!" As the man in purple robe gradually approached, the sheepdog's barking gradually became distorted with fear.
Keisha wasn't paying attention and the dog actually abandoned its owner and ran away in panic.
"Hey, stop!" Kesha reacted and wanted to chase.
But she didn't want to abandon her flock.
Oh, the sheep...
Kesha glanced at her sheep and found that they were so frightened that they didn't even dare to eat grass. They were all bleating in fear and huddled in place, trembling.
"What... is going on?" Kesha didn't understand.
At this time, the man in purple robe had slowly walked in front of her.
"Uncle... hello?" Keisha greeted cautiously.
The purple-robed man looked down at her, then he spoke: "Child."
"You're in pain, aren't you?"
The man's voice was extremely ethereal, as if it came from another world.
"Why?" There was a hint of pity in his eyes.
"I..." Kesha was a little confused. She didn't know how to answer.
"I see." Suddenly, the purple-robed man turned his gaze away. As if he had read her mind, "All living things suffer, and you are no exception, child."
"?" Keisha tilted her little head and looked at the weird guy in front of her with confusion.
The man in purple robe just looked at her quietly, his eyes very focused, and no one knew what he was looking at.
"Um..." At this time, Keisha spoke first.
"Hmm?" The purple-robed man's eyes moved slightly.
"Uncle." Kesha's heart moved, and she couldn't help but say, "You are in pain too, right?"
The purple-robed man was silent for a while.
"Yes." He looked at the little girl with some surprise, and then gave an affirmative answer.
"Why?" Keisha asked, imitating his tone.
"..." The purple-robed man was silent again.
But looking at Kesha's clear eyes, he finally gave an answer.
"When I was your age, I was wandering the streets of Amakra."
"My parents both died of illness in front of me. And I couldn't do anything."
The purple-robed man answered in a terrifyingly calm tone.
"Sorry..." Keisha gave the uncle a sympathetic look.
At least she still has parents and family, and she doesn't have to go hungry every day.
But this strange old man is very pitiful.
No wonder he was in pain.
"No, I'm not suffering because of this." The purple robe man said, "What makes me suffer is that I understand the reason why the tragedy happened, but I don't have the power to solve it."
“There is no solution to this problem.”
"As long as humans exist in this world, there will always be people like you and me who suffer endless pain."
"Hmm..." Keisha felt a little dizzy again.
She couldn't understand what the uncle was saying.
All in all, that doesn't sound like a good thing.
The most important thing is that Keisha has heard this tone before - an old lady in the village also spoke in this tone, and then she was found hanged on a dead tree outside the village, leaving us forever.
"Uncle." Kesha cautiously asked, "Then now..."
As she spoke, she also looked at the huge "caravan" following the purple-robed man.
“Who are these people?”
"They are my followers." The purple-robed man said without hiding anything, "And the slaves we bought. Slaves have been much cheaper recently, so we bought a lot."
"Wow..." Keisha exclaimed secretly.
To be able to own such a "caravan", have so many people following him loyally, and buy so many slaves at one go, this uncle must be a remarkable figure now.
The wandering orphan whose parents had both passed away has probably become successful now.
So she asked carefully: "Now, uncle, your life should be much better, right?"
The purple-robed man pondered for a long time.
Then he smiled: "Well, yes. I am living a good life now."
"That's good." Kesha breathed a sigh of relief.
"But this is not enough." The purple robe man said: "The root of the problem has not been solved."
"I'm living a good life, but what about those slaves? What about you? What about your parents, family, friends and neighbors?"
“The so-called good days are always for a minority. Most people are struggling to live, and can never get rid of it.”
"I have witnessed how callous human beings can be, and I have also seen the extreme depravity and corruption of this world. Humanity is beyond salvation."
"Hmm..." Keisha was already a little confused.
She scratched her head and said tentatively: "But isn't it enough for me to live a good life?"
"It's already very difficult to live a good life for yourself. Is there any way in the world that can make everyone happy?"
"Yes." The purple-robed man said seriously, "I have found it."
"You want to know, kid?"
"I..." Kesha nodded hesitantly: "Well, I want to know."
"Then you can join us." The purple robe man's voice was full of natural temptation: "Come with me, child."
"Where are we going?" Keisha was puzzled.
"Right here." The purple robed man smiled and said, "We will hold a grand ceremony here. Everyone is eligible to join."
"That won't do." Kesha shook her head a little warily: "I still have to herd the sheep. After herding the sheep, I have to go home."
"Then what?" The purple-robed man interrupted her: "Continue herding sheep tomorrow? Next year, the year after, or eighty or ninety years from now?"
"When you grow up and have children, will you let her continue to herd sheep?"
Keisha was speechless after being asked this question.
“No.” She clenched her fists and said stubbornly, “I will be a great caravan guide like my father. When I grow up, my children won’t have to continue herding sheep.”
"But your father is a great caravan guide, isn't he?" The purple-robed man laughed, "And you are still herding sheep."
Keisha: “I…”
"Come on." The purple-robed man's eyes moved slightly: "You have tasted pain, and you can also feel the pain of others. This is a talent."
"I would have come earlier than today. My followers bought too many slaves, which delayed the journey for several days, so I met you here."
"So our meeting is a coincidence destined by fate."
"Perhaps, fate has pointed out another path for you. The coming of the Lord requires more people to dedicate themselves to it. Kesha, you should join us."
"Eh?" Kesha's head buzzed: "How do you know my name?"
At this moment, she thought of the frightened sheepdog and the sheep shivering beside it.
She instinctively became alert and stepped back in fear.
But it's too late.
A dark light flashed in the purple-robed man's eyes, and Kesha felt as if she saw a lavender ocean of stars - she was completely immersed in it, and both her mind and body were numb.
She opened her eyes and mouth, but couldn't close them.
It was as if she had turned into a piece of wood, unable to move or speak.
"Take her with you." At this time, the man in purple robe said to the followers behind him.
"Yes, Prophet!" A believer walked forward respectfully, and swiftly lifted Kesha's small body with one hand and threw her on the back of a horse beside him.
Then he asked curiously: "Great Prophet, why did you capture this little girl?"
"Anyway, once our sacrificial ceremony begins, everyone within a few dozen miles will merge with the Great Void - the same goes for this girl, right?"
Everyone in this mountain range must die. It is completely unnecessary to capture Kesa.
No one could guess why the prophet did this.
"No reason." The purple-robed prophet replied, "It's just that my intuition tells me that she will be important to the Lord's cause."
Yes, intuition.
The man in purple robes, the Void Prophet Malzahar, has had the magical talent to foresee the secrets of heaven and predict fate since childhood.
His intuition may be vague, but it is always the most accurate.
Unfortunately, fate played a terrible joke on him, a person who could predict his fate.
His abilities were awakened a little late.
When Malzahar awakened his talent and easily became a well-off fortune teller, his parents had already died of illness in front of him.
Therefore, this talent failed to save Malzahar's life, but instead became a tool for him to destroy the world.
"Take this girl with you." Malzahar glanced at Kai'Sa: "She must be special."
